I was wondering the same thing about a similar situation. I think I read somewhere that part of the premiums you pay are not added to cost basis...maybe the "cost of insurance" portion? Edit: Here's the paper that explains the conundrum. It seems the IRS initially used "aggregate premium theory" whe...

Hello, For the first 8 months of the year my wife had her own health plan with her own HSA. On Sep 1, she joined my plan. My contribution has already been maxed out at $3,450. She had already contributed $2,195.35 to her HSA. Can we contribute an extra $1,254.65 to my HSA to max out her yearly $3,45...

Look up credit card arbitrage. I used to do it when interest rates were higher. You can make balance transfer checks out to yourself. Just be sure to make the min payments and pay it off in full before the 0% intro term expires or you'll be on the hook for the actual interest rate for the whole term!

I would call vanguard about this, but they're closed for the weekend. I just put in an order to sell $5500 of VTSAX using FIFO, and then send the proceeds to my roth ira for a 2017 contribution. It allowed me to do this on the website, but will it really settle and be in the roth before Tues, 4/17? ...

Thanks for the help. For those interested, this is the the organization that runs the plan, https://pensionfund.org. This is the resource book for the TDRA (tax deferred retirement account), https://pensionfund.org/uploads/TDRA_Member_Resource_Book.pdf And here are the returns since inception. I had...

My FIL is a minister and his 403b is in some kind of special plan that has a guaranteed base rate of 3%, and an unlimited upside return. The most it has ever returned in its 42 year history was 14%. The CAGR since inception is 8.35% (nominal). Since there is no downside risk and the least it would e...

My parents are both 61 and retired with 1 dependant. Starting this year they are on the Obamacare bronze plan with a premium subsidy. Their projected AGI for 2018 is $75k. They have $300k in cash that needs to be invested. If they invested it in a taxable account, I could see a big problem with unan...

If the math doesn't work out for financial aid that Jack mentioned, then: If you're worried your income will be too high when the kid goes to college, for the interest exclusion of your savings bonds, you should cash them out and fund a 529 before the year your MAGI is above the limit. That way, you...

Thanks for the help everyone. What kind of annuity? Has she annuitized yet? If she goes with anuuitization, she will recover her basis with each payment received. If she simply withdraws without annuitization, earnings will have to be reported as income first. It's a deferred variable annuity that h...

My mother was sold an annuity after my grandfather passed and was purchased with the proceeds of his life policy. I understand that life insurance benefits are tax free, and am wondering if withdrawals from this annuity will also be. I have a feeling they will be taxable...

My question is should I max it so it's done in august or even rly throughout the year so it's maxed in December. Or does it not matter Probably won't make much of a difference at all. You'll only know in hindsight if it was better to lump sum or dollar cost average (DCA). And that's getting into a ...

Yes, she did take it to the PO and they forwarded it on. Not sure if it was USPS's error or Treasury's. Each bond was in a separate postmarked envelope. This $50 bond was right in the middle of their 50's. I suppose the Treasury arranged them in a stack and the USPS just delivered them in the same a...

I have recently become a big fan of Allan Roth, reading his book and many of his published articles. I really am interested in his idea of using fdic insured cd's for part of your fixed income. Obviously you get the most benefit by holding them within an IRA. Yes, I started following Allan's advice...

Here is my anonymized Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tucWjoZByel7ObZg9X8anXiONvjFfsvRT866boX2T2E/edit#gid=32 The spreadsheet has two sheets (Daily AA & Historical). These sheets are called by name in the three linked scripts. To see the scripts (1) File > Make a copy of the s...

In one of the cells in my spreadsheet, I have the total current value of my portfolio, which changes throughout the day as prices change. I'd like to be able to see the changes in value of my total portfolio in a daily chart. Is there a way to do this in google finance? Is there maybe a macro that c...

You won't get the flight to safety in cds during a stock crash like you would in treasuries or bnd. However, both of those cds are yielding more than bnd (1.7%). If your main goal is safety of principal, the yield on those isn't bad.

CPA advises that pretax contributions aren't beneficial since most of US tax bill is wiped out by foreign tax credit from foreign earned income. It was something of a 6% tax savings now vs. 15-20%+ tax rate on withdrawals in retirement. My question is, what is the deadline and reporting requirements...

Below is the email I received today from the president of Pension Fund. Thanks for your question regarding the limit implications of Pension Plan contributions. As a “church plan” the Pension Plan of the Christian Church is technically a 403b as grandfathered in the ERISA legislation, even though it...

An update to this. I tried bumping the amount to 92% again, and it actually deducted the full amount from the next check! However, in the notes section of the LES (leave and earnings statement), it said the percentage will be lowered to 85%. :confused I just got off the phone with the different offi...

Thanks Alan. I read some posts from an individual in another forum that said the bonus would be considered employer contributions. Is this information misguided? http://themilitarywallet.com/thrift-savings-plan-contribution-limits/ The TSP and 401k plans are under the same umbrella and share a max c...

I'm a member of the reserve, and contribute about 6000 after tax to the Roth TSP. I also have a traditional 401k from my full time job that I want to put my remaining contributions in for 2015. The kicker is, I'll be getting a reenlistment bonus of 7500 this year, and I have it set up to go 100% int...

It wasn't mentioned explicitly, but I thought I'd make a point. There's a good argument for clergy to max their 403b before Roth, even when in lower tax brackets. The reason is that 403b distributions in retirement can be designated as housing allowance. Tax deferred becomes never taxed. So, HSA > ...

IRS Pub 517 gives the comprehensive explanation. A minister's contribution to a tax-deferred account is limited to her taxable income. In this case, that appears to be the $20,000 on the W2 plus $5,000 of excess housing allowance. The excess housing allowance is reported on line 7 as salary, even t...

How your FIL's situation differs from your wife's example, if it differs at all, I don't know. What I do know is that hundreds of teachers have posted here and I don't recall a single one saying that they had a reduced limit for how much they could contribute to their 403b accounts as a result of c...

I think your FIL's issue has to do with his pension contributions being pre-tax. I suspect your wife's pension contributions are not pre-tax. I worked at a job that had a pension and a separate 457b plan. The pension was mandatory. I had no choice whether or not to have that amount withheld. It was...

Thanks for the responses, especially retiredjg for taking the time to read through the website. Indeed,the wording is difficult to understand. I did not find what you quoted on their website. And I don't know how to interpret it. It certainly sounds like the way you read it - that the employee contr...

I don't know how to interpret what you quoted, but there are lots of people who are paying into a pension and also maxing out their work plan at $18k (more if 50 or over). I think we can say for pretty much sure that the law has not changed. But that doesn't tell us what his pension brochure means....

Pensionfund.org is the administrator of my FIL's retirement accounts. He was planning on maxing out his 403b this year, but from the following excerpt from the pension brochure, it seems the amounts that he contributes to the pension (7%) and to the 403b are combined and applied to the 18,000 (+ 600...

Did the house title actually pass to your step grandmother? If that is so then I would think there would be a step up basis on the date of her passing. When your mother sold the house was an appraisal done? Or was an appraisal done when your step mother's passing? If yes to either that may be estab...

OK, that completely changes the answer. Your basis is the FMV in 2003 on his date of death. You need to arrive at that figure, possibly through an appraiser who can give you an appraisal as of that date. Yes, it became irrevocable at death but the assets of the trust are included in his estate and ...

OP - Are you sure it was place in an IRREVOCABLE trust by your grandfather? It makes a huge difference. If the trust was REVOCABLE then the basis would be stepped up to his DOD value but not if it was put in an irrevocable trust during his lifetime. Gill Gill, it was a revocable trust. I edited the...

My grandfather put his house inside a revocable trust in the 90s. He died in 2003. The trust was structured in a way that when he died, his wife, my step-grandmother, would be allowed to live there until her death. Then, the house would go to my mother. Well, step grandma died in 2013, and my mother...

I would also consider the following from X-Ray to be emerging: Latin America Africa/Middle East Now that's a little bit closer to my allocation. But still not quite there. I also noticed, for example, with VTIAX (total international), Vanguard indicates 18.5% emerging markets, whereas, the Mornings...

Using X-Ray on Morningstar Portfolio Manager, under "World Regions", I can see percentages to Europe emerging and Asia emerging. Combining them does not add up to what I thought I had in emerging markets. I have a bunch of funds from an old managed account with high capital gains that I do not want ...

Thanks for the info. It's TD Ameritrade. There was no form, he just mailed a check for 57,500 with his account number written on it. He rolled over an old 401k into this plan, so that's why he had to file the 5500ez. His income was greater than 260k. Does it matter how he labels the contributions on...

My father is a sole proprietor, and last year he set up and funded a solo 401k. He contributed the maximum amount of $ 57,500 . He needs to deduct this $57,500 contribution somewhere on his tax return. He has to submit form 5500-EZ Annual Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retireme...